Get Started with FreeModel in 5 Minutes (OpenAI-Compatible API)

This guide takes you from a new account to a working FreeModel request in about five minutes. FreeModel exposes OpenAI-compatible endpoints — change the base URL, keep your key server-side, and call models from the live catalog.

Step 1: Get an API key

Create a FreeModel account.
Add prepaid balance under Console > Billing.
Open Console > API Keys and create a key.
Store the key in a server-side environment variable.

export FREEMODEL_API_KEY="sk-xxxx"

Step 2: Choose a model

List the models available to your key:

curl https://api.freemodel.app/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY"

Start with one of these routes:

Modality	Model	Price
Text	`gpt-5.4-mini`	$0.90 input / $5.40 output per 1M tokens
Image	`gpt-image-2.5-ext`	from $0.0085 per delivered image
Video	`gemini-omni-t2v`	$0.38 per 10-second request

Step 3: Send a request

Use the OpenAI-compatible base URL https://api.freemodel.app/v1.

curl https://api.freemodel.app/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-5.4-mini",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Write one welcome sentence."}]
  }'

curl https://api.freemodel.app/v1/images/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-image-2.5-ext",
    "prompt": "A clean indigo paper lantern on a white background",
    "resolution": "1K",
    "size": "1:1",
    "n": 1
  }'

curl https://api.freemodel.app/v1/videos \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gemini-omni-t2v",
    "prompt": "A paper airplane glides through a sunlit library",
    "seconds": "10",
    "size": "1280x720"
  }'

Text requests return their content directly. Image Ext returns data[].url if the wait succeeds, or HTTP 202 with a gateway task to poll at GET /v1/tasks/{id}. Video requests return a task id because generation is asynchronous.

Step 4: Check a video task

curl "https://api.freemodel.app/v1/videos/$VIDEO_ID?model=gemini-omni-t2v" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY"

When the status becomes completed, download the file:

curl -L "https://api.freemodel.app/v1/videos/$VIDEO_ID/content?model=gemini-omni-t2v" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FREEMODEL_API_KEY" \
  --output video.mp4

Next steps

Model pages

Review exact parameters and prices for every live model.

Development tools

Connect Cursor, Cline, Codex CLI, or Gemini CLI.

Video workflow

Build reliable polling, download, and webhook handling.

Error handling

Recover from authentication, quota, rate-limit, and upstream errors.

Getting Started

Development Guide

Get Started with FreeModel in 5 Minutes (OpenAI-Compatible API)

Step 1: Get an API key

Step 2: Choose a model

Step 3: Send a request

Step 4: Check a video task

Next steps

Model pages

Development tools

Video workflow

Error handling

​Step 1: Get an API key

​Step 2: Choose a model

​Step 3: Send a request

​Step 4: Check a video task

​Next steps

Model pages

Development tools

Video workflow

Error handling

Step 1: Get an API key

Step 2: Choose a model

Step 3: Send a request

Step 4: Check a video task

Next steps